It Takes More Than That
by pinktonks
Summary: Whatever happened to Smellerbee and Longshot? Certainly they didn't die- it takes a lot to kill a Freedom Fighter. Revised so it makes more sense. number two in the series. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Two Years Ago**

Smellerbee sat on the bed of the tiny apartment, her hands busily gnawing at the pallet. She had so much energy pent up inside her, so much rage. Too many emotions. Longshot wasn't in, and this was one of the few times where she felt she could let herself mourn. 

Jet was dead. Jet was gone and he wasn't there to take care of her, of the Freedom Fighters, anymore. Images and sound bytes ran through her head- she saw that cocky grin of his, she hear him telling her about the fresh start they were going to have. She smiled grimly. Fresh new start? Yep. Was it a good one? No way. She saw the body of her beloved leader, her brother, laying prone on the stone floor of the Dai Li's secret hide out. She saw him speaking those fated last words, saw his eyes shut just before the arrow pierced him… 

Tears began to pour down her cheeks. It seemed like she had spent far too much time crying these days. Smellerbee inhaled sharply, the sound so loud in her ears. She felt weak and silly. Jet didn't cry when the others had passed. He had said… Said speeches about their courage, about how sorely they would be missed. He had taken all of their combined sorrow and turned it into something far more hopeful.

How she wished she knew how to utter those words, how to make herself feel like this wasn't the end. 

She retreated once more into her memories, trying to find the happier ones. She saw all the flames of her village and heard screams and saw the blood rushing over her own legs… No, not those memories.

Smellerbee took another deep breath and remembered the time before. She saw the face of her companion, her best friend. The silent archer's mouth was set into a grim line when he had found her, so small and fragile. She knew he was thinking that she was too young for this. He had scooped her up into his arms, and if he had noticed the blood that had rubbed off onto his arms, he didn't let on.

Back then, Smellerbee hadn't been Smellerbee. She'd been someone else- a girl with a family and friends and a different identity. When Longshot had picked her up, she'd been five and a half years old.

_8 and a half years ago_

Longshot had taken the nameless girl to the tree houses and bathed her. She probably didn't really understand what had happened to her. He filled a basin with water and set the girl down onto the wooden platform. The blood from between her legs had since dried, but he knew it had still come off on his sleeves. He wasn't revolted- it had happened to many of the tree house's female residents. Longshot stayed calm as he left the girl and got one of those who would be able to help the her, to explain what had happened.

He'd ran across Shootup first- she was maybe two years older than him and had a lot of freckles tossed carelessly across her nose. She could tell that the grim look on the boys face meant that she was needed. Longshot led Shootup to the room where the little girl sat.

"Wait…" She'd said when Longshot turned to exit. He hadn't heard her speak before this. He stopped and turned to look at the girl. "Will you… Will you wait for me?" She was afraid. Her eyes had told him that he was the first friendly face she'd seen in a while. He nodded tightly and went to sit outside the room.

Smellerbee remembered that day with both horror and happiness. As she sat there, a smile came over her face. Aside from meeting Longshot, she had met Jet as well.

Jet had heard that there was a new girl. Longshot had told him. Normally he would wait to meet her, since they had new kids coming in every single day.

She's different, Longshot had told him in his silent language. You have to see her. She needs a name, too. Jet trusted Longshot more than he trusted anyone since they were the first- together they had created the Freedom Fighters, right after their village had been burned down. Jet hadn't ever gotten to know Longshot before the fire. They'd been the sole survivors, and they'd stuck together. So, if Longshot thought she was important, she was definitely important.

Smellerbee remembered seeing Jet for the first time, while sitting in foreign clothes on Longshot's small pallet. She'd blushed- he was so… so cute! She didn't want him to see her like this. She wanted him to see her in her fancy dresses with her hair done all nice by- No. That nameless girl had sat on the pallet that afternoon, a silent boy holding a bow and an older boy with a wheat stalk held between his lips staring down at her. She felt defiant. Everything she loved had been taken from her.

That girl had known she would have to change. She'd vowed to herself that she would throw away the girl with the dresses and dolls and the long, tamed mane of hair. There wasn't room for her, anyway. That was when the nameless girl had begun to take her first steps toward becoming Smellerbee.

The Smellerbee who sat on the pallet in Ba Sing Se smiled. That was the girl she loved- the defiant one with the resolve to completely make herself over. After five and a half years of living a life pasted over with dresses and etiquette and a limited wealth, she had decided that wasn't who she was meant to be.

The nameless girl listened as the boy with the wheat stalk spoke to her.

"So Longshot here says he found you hiding behind some trees this morning. We always send out a couple of scouts to the villages that get destroyed. We take 'em in." She'd listened raptly. Someone who was only probably about six or seven years older than her was taking in the orphaned children? Wicked. " He says you were in pretty bad shape. Shootup seems to have done well- though you don't look very comfortable. We'll get you some different clothes." The boy had looked at her, scrutinizing. He was trying to figure out what was so different about this one. He looked over her minute frame, her mane of wet hair- Spirits, was it long! That would have to change. To him, she looked like just another helpless wreck- but wait. That look in her eyes! How had he missed it? It was so… fiery, so defiant. He liked it. He looked over to Longshot and nodded. He understood. This nameless girl was a lot like he had been.

"What's your name?" The boy with the wheat stalk in his mouth asked. The nameless girl was wondering how he kept it there so effortlessly. "I'm Jet, and this is Longshot." Longshot. She committed that one immediately. She owed him.

"My name?… That… That doesn't matter anymore. I'm not her." She looked away from them. She saw that other girl buried inside her, terrified of disappearing. She squashed her more.

"Well, here, that's okay. Longshot and Jet aren't exactly common names, are they?" He smiled at her. "We need to think of a Freedom Fighter name for you, now don't we? That is, if you want to be a Freedom Fighter." Freedom Fighter? Longshot watched the girl's lips move silently, repeating the words. He saw how she looked away from them, like she was trying to think without bias.

"Yeah… I think I wanna be a Freedom Fighter." She looked back to Jet, her eyes fleetingly stopping on Longshot. "Well? What should my name be?" She looked up and saw a piece of her hair hanging in her face. She blew it out, her lips creating a buzzing noise. Buzzing… Stinging… Bees. Jet made the connection in his head, and smiled. He would teach her how to handle weaponry- everyone would. She'd find hers ,the one that was unique to her. Everyone had one. Longshot was the best archer among them, and Jet himself preferred the hooked swords he had stolen from a Fire Nation traveler a few years back.

"Well, how about Bee?" He suggested.

"Bee? Just Bee?" She thought about it… it seemed too short. Too much like her old name.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Jet asked. Longshot looked up and saw the red leaves falling down, hear a kid passing by on a zip line, shouting something to a friend. The tree bark smelled of vanilla and dirt and he thought he even caught a whiff of spices, probably coming from the kitchen. He looked down at the little girl.

"I don't know… what is that smell?" She sniffed the air. "It smells like… like curry!" She smiled, remembering the yellow curry powder that was in her old kitchen constantly, remembered how sweet it tasted with pineapples.

"I think that's what we're doing for dinner." Jet mumbled to himself. "well, we'll just call you Bee until we find something appropriate, mmkay?" Bee nodded.

_present_

Smellerbee smiled though the tears. She stood up from the pallet and went to the window.

_where was Longshot?_

She clutched her elbows- it was a cold night, even though it was the middle of the summer. Longshot had somehow gotten them out of Lake Laogai, though for the life of her, Smellerbee couldn't remember. She'd been completely distraught. Jet was gone, and Longshot was late, and Smellerbee was all alone.

She waited all night. She packed her small bag, filled with a water skin, money, her bed roll, and some nonperishable food stuffs. She walked around the small room so many times, running her fingers over everything, the dust hardly noticeable on her stained white gloves.

She sat on the bed staring at the sun setting the next day. She decided then that she couldn't risk it anymore. She had to go. The Dai Li were looking for her and Longshot, and since he was already so late… She didn't want to believe he had been captured, but her mind heart told her that he had. Waiting any longer wasn't safe- it was only a matter of time before they found the apartment. She stood, more tears pouring down her cheeks. She wiped them away.

_Okay Smellerbee. You gotta be strong. He'll find you. He always does._

She left the little apartment.

%%%%%%%%%%

Longshot really wanted to punch himself in the face right now. He'd been an idiot.

_A few days ago_

He'd pushed Smellerbee up into that pipe, telling her that there was a ladder She'd been crying so hard… When she obeyed, he went back to Jet's body, an arrow- His arrow- still sticking out of it.

_Longshot, you know you have to do it._ Longshot grabbed the hooked swords besides Jet, his hand shaking. He ran back to the pipe and climbed in. When he looked up, he saw light.

"Longshot?" Smellerbee shouted down to him. He hooked the swords over the bottom rung of the ladder and clambered up. His heartbeat thrummed in his ears.

_Come on, for me. You can't wait for me. And it… it hurts so bad. Just put me out of my misery. _The sound of rock scraping against rock was loud and obnoxious. Longshot pulled himself out of the hole and into the faint sunshine. Smellerbee was standing there, looking out at the lake, her dagger clutched in her hand. He grabbed her and urged her to start running .They had to get away.

_Take care of the Fighters, guys. Take care of each other. Stay safe. And remember… The world will always need Freedom Fighters. _They had ran and ran and ran until the city loomed ahead of them again. Longshot could see the distant figures of the Avatar and his friends fighting some of the Dai Li, and he also saw that two or three of the agents were following them. Once in the city, they could get lost easily.

Smellerbee was lagging. He grabbed her wrist and tugged, his eyes begging her to hurry up.

"Shut… up." She gasped. It must have been hard to run and sob at the same time. Longshot wasn't letting himself feel the pain. Not yet. They had to live first.

Finally, finally, they reached the stupid city. They ran around, hooking a few corners and then hopped onto the nearest roof top. They laid down and waited for hours.

Finally, they hopped down. The sun was setting- it would be easier to get around now.

Longshot grabbed her by the shoulders. Go back, pack, get ready. I'll be back soon.

"Alright… but you better come back." She couldn't handle losing him, too. She looked at his eyes, telling her everything she ever needed to know. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

_I promise._

_Present_

Sitting in his cell now, Longshot hated himself. So much time had passed… and he'd broken his promise. His bow was gone, and so were Jet's swords. He'd risked his freedom for those swords ,and they'd bitten him in the blubber. The Dai Li had been waiting for him to come back for them. Fate was a bitter woman, indeed.

It was several days into his imprisonment when the world began to collapse around him. Literally.

The Dai Li officers ran through the halls, ripping at the support beams angrily. Someone had found them out.

The officer Feng was looking at the prisoners with sorrow… They didn't need to die here, without even a shot at escape. It wasn't right. He knew he'd done some bad things for the Dai Li, but this was a little too much.

When all the other officers had passed by, leaving him to take out the remaining beams, sighed. If anyone found out what he was about to do, he'd be in so much trouble. He hesitated, then blasted the hinges off of the doors, one by one. He came to the last one and saw a boy with a straw hat, watching him. He was so young… Feng blasted the entire cell wall clear off. This young boy deserved to live. He couldn't even recall what he did to get put in here.

Longshot and the man looked at each other for a moment before Longshot ran off. He found an abandoned room at the end of the hallway, and inside hung the weapons of the prisoners. The door was in a heap at the back.

He found his bow and quiver and those hooked swords… Oh spirits. How was he going to get out of this mess? He ran in the direction that the Dai Li had gone, looking around desperately for some sort of escape. In the distance, he could hear boulders colliding, tunnels caving in. He was running out of time, that much was sure.

Longshot threw himself around a corner and saw the ladder. It had to lead somewhere, right? He hooked the twin blades to his quiver and began to ascend the rungs, finally reaching the top. He pushed up, his leg hooked over the top most rung. Damned earth benders…

Finally the stone cork budged, and water started to trickle in. Longshot nearly swore. He would either have to swim to the surface from who knows how many feet deep, or he would be right at the lapping shore. Either way, he knew this was a definite way out. Longshot wished he had another one, though. Below him, he could see puddles beginning to form, green light glimmering off their surfaces. He took a deep breath and exhaled, then pushed again. Water flooded in, but he held tight. He waited a moment and let the pressure of the water gushing past him decrease, then pushed off.

Longshot counted himself lucky. From his push off, he only had to swim about ten feet to the surface. The water tried to suck him down into the hole a couple of times, but he was a strong swimmer. He had to have been- Jet had made sure that every Freedom Fighter could swim at a proficient level.

He surfaced, gratefully sucking in air. On the shore he saw Dai Li agents running around, shouting at one another, counting. Making sure they were all there. Longshot tread the water until long after they had left, just to be sure. He didn't want to make mistakes anymore. Plus, he had an advantage. The Dai Li thought he was dead, and Smellerbee had gotten away. Nobody would be looking for him, anyway.

When he reached the shore, he was grateful for the sun's heat. It dried his clothes much faster than any fire could. Longshot grasped behind him and felt the cold steel of the swords as well as his quiver. It didn't matter if all the arrows had floated away- he could easily carve more. His bow was still clutched in his hand.

Longshot allowed himself to smile briefly. He had escaped death- again- and he thought Smellerbee would be waiting for him. He was wrong, but that wasn't any surprise.

He sat in the cold house, looking around. It wasn't disturbed, except for a few things missing. He saw his blanket folded on the bed and a ration of food was in the cupboard. He sat down at the circular table and felt around the bottom- Bee would have left him a sign that she had in fact left and not been captured. She always left him signs.

His fingers found an unnatural texture in the wood, and he flipped the thing over. An arrow was drawn pointing southwest, along with a circle with two stripes on either side. That was her signature- not many Fighters were literate. She'd also drawn a bow shape and two lines- she'd waited nearly two days for him. The message told him to follow her southwest, and he had to hurry. Knowing Smellerbee, she'd be clear to the Fire Nation by now. Longshot grabbed his satchel off of the peg behind the door and put his blanket and bed pad and food inside, along with one of the knives they kept in the drawer. He would need to be able to carve new arrows. He flipped the table over and put everything back into it's original place. The next person to live here would belong more than they ever had.

%%%%%%%%%%

Smellerbee was snoozing on her be roll beneath a bush. The sun was shining in, but she knew she would fare better traveling at night. Her dreams were of Longshot wandering in those endless catacombs, shouting her name vainly.

"here…" She whispered in her sleep. It was a near silent sound, but her dream changed because of it. Longshot had finally found her, and they were sitting in those familiar red treetops, watching the clouds roll by lazily. She rolled over in her sleep.

Longshot was close, he knew that much. He walked in the forest alongside the trail that most travelers followed- Smellerbee would never do that. She was too smart. He'd already seen remnants of miniscule camp fires, and every once in a while, a small circle with two lines on either side would appear in the dirt or carved into a tree. She was leaving him clues that only he could decipher.


	2. Chapter 2

**2 years Ago**

Longshot was sitting in the forest, a small fire burning feebly before him. He needed to sleep but… he had promised Smellerbee. The archer liked to keep his promises, especially to her. Especially now.

So while he rested, he carved arrows to keep himself occupied, to keep awake. He had to stay alert. He stuck his feet closer to the fire. Why were the nights getting so cold? It wasn't that close to autumn. Longshot drifted off into his thoughts, his hands moving of their own accord, slowing minuscule amounts every few moments until… He fell asleep.

%%%%%%%%%

Smellerbee woke up to the pounding of footsteps. Tons of them. She sat up slowly, happy she had ensconced herself within the bush. She didn't move from where she was, but still, her dagger was in her hand and she could feel all her muscles tense up. When she ventured a peek through the foliage, she saw a sea of red. Fire Nation.

What did this mean? What were a ton of troops going to do? There was a giant wall blocking their way, and unless they had suddenly picked up earth bending, they were going to look ridiculous. Smellerbee waited until the footsteps began to fade, the poked her head out of the bush.

She muttered a string of rather colorful obscenities when she saw the flame emblem hanging from the wall, proclaiming the loss of the last safe haven- well, aside from the forest- in the world. Things couldn't get any worse, could they?

%%%%%%%%%%

Longshot, too woke up to the thunder of footsteps. He knew they were close, and he knew that he was in deep trouble. After quickly scooping all of his possessions in to a bag, he glanced around, then decided to go where he felt safest- up. He was in a forest, albeit small, but it still had trees with plenty of foliage to cover.

One of the arrows he had made was knocked in his bow the moment he was steady. He didn't really know what he would do if they found him, but it gave him peace of mind. Sitting in that tree, legs bunched up beside him, he really wished he had Smellerbee to cover his back.

As the soldiers passed, they walked in step and kept their faces forward. The synchronicity made Longshot uncomfortable; he was used to the some what disorganized planning of the Fighters.

How far could Bee have gotten?

%%%%%%%%%%

Finally the stampede of soldiers passed, and Bee decided it would be wise to get as far away as she could, as fast as she could.

She traveled through the trees, deep in the brush so her trail would be harder to follow. Still, she carved her tiny markings in the trees every once in a while, but her hopes for Longshot were continually being reduced. It was probably going to be just her for a while.

Weeks passed. Smellerbee made it out of the forest and to the Serpent's Pass- Full Moon Bay had been closed down, and if you wanted to make it out, you had to work for it.

The razor back hills were actually pretty easy to navigate, until she got to the water. In the center was a small mass of land that looked pretty beat up, but she figured if she could make it there, the rest would be pretty easy. She was barely ten feet into the water when she found out why it was called the Serpent's Pass.

The monster reared it's head, and she booked it. Never mind the island, she knew that she didn't have much time. It began rushing towards her, and Smellerbee remembered that she was thinking about the strange coloring.

Just rounding around that island, the serpent threw itself down, making huge waves that actually pushed her towards the shore. It was maybe the luckiest thing that had happened to her in a really long time. Her feet found the sandy layer beneath the water and she slogged through and up to the shore. The monster loomed, and she stared defiantly at it. Smellerbee was really not in the mood to deal with this kind of nonsense right now. It almost seemed like the beast understood that, because even though he could taken another shot, he just sunk down below the surface. Smellerbee relaxed against the sand, catching her breath. Her clothes were soaked and she was sure that water had seeped into her bag. It would be a cold night if she didn't get her stuff dried off while the sun was out.

Smellerbee trekked up another one of the ridges, then went to find herself a spot to hide. She shimmied between a few of the rocks and found a small cavernous area where the sun was still shining through. She pulled off her pack and stretched her bed roll out in the sun and removed everything else to dry. Her chest plate and boots were tossed in a heap. Bee built a rack of twigs and put her clothes over it, then laid in the sun in her wrappings, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her body. It was almost like the old days where she and Jet and Longshot would go swimming spontaneously and end up laying in the sun just like this.

After a while, her stomach began to growl, and she went to see if her food stores were soaked or edible. Of course, they were completely drenched, and she sighed. It was back to starving, until she could find herself something. At least she still had her water skin. When there wasn't water, things started to get seriously sketchy.

Her clothes were dry by night fall, but her bed roll was still damp.

"You gotta deal with it, Smellerbee." She told herself before standing up to go find some wood.

While she was walking around in the dark, she heard foot steps. In an instant, her dagger was in her hand and she was surveying the surroundings, trying her hardest to stay still.

After a few moments she ventured forward. Two small figures were standing down at the base of the razor back, staring at the water. Smellerbee walked down the slope, doing her best to keep the foot steps muffled. When she reached the base, she saw that they were only children- young, dirty faced, and soaking wet. She lowered her dagger.

"What are you two doing here?" She asked them quietly. They turned, startled, and stared at her. When they didn't answer, Smellerbee got annoyed. "I'm not gonna bite. If your running away, you're in good company."

"You're a run away too?" Asked one of the two. Her voice told Bee that it was a girl.

"Not… really. I don't have parents anymore. It's complicated." She replied, stepping between the kids.

"So whatcha looking at?" She asked.

"Some kid is over there. We were walking with him and when we got in and swam over here, he didn't come." The girl told her.

"Wait. Could he swim or not, do you know?"

"We don't really know. Guy didn't talk too much. Bit like Lee here." She said. The girl shoved her hair away from her face. Smellerbee didn't wait before jumping right back into the water, soaking herself all over again. If it was him, it would be worth it.

She swam faster than she could ever remember- or maybe it was just her heart pounding. She guessed that the monster slept at night since she didn't ever see it. She swam around the island.

As she came closer, her heart accelerated even more than it had. It looked like him. She even swore she saw the conical shape on the head and the silhouette of the bow. Her feet grabbed at the land and she ran through the water.

A pair of arms circled her after she tossed herself at the shape. Her hands felt the quiver on his back and the press of the bow on her back.

"Longshot!" She shouted, her happiness too much to hold in. She pulled herself back and looked at him.

It was him, to be sure. He was dirty and now his front was wet, but he wore a huge smile. Finally they'd found each other.

"You finally caught up. Took you long enough!" Smellerbee told him as she went to stand in the water. He just kept smiling. She'd appeared out of nowhere and now she was giving him crap like always... He was just so happy.

"Okay, lets go." He pushed his hat back and ran into the waves. Smellerbee stood in front of him, watching his face carefully.

"Yeah, it's gonna suck at the end. And it's getting cold at night. Well, we have each other now so it wont be that bad, I guess. And we can build a fire." Longshot just stared at her, memorizing her for the hundredth time. He missed her reading him.

"I missed you, Bee." He whispered, and she smiled, a small blush coming over her bare cheeks. The paint itself had washed off, but from so much repetition of wearing it there was a stain. Longshot reached out and touched that stain, barely brushing it. Smellerbee didn't acknowledge it, but her blush deepened and she could feel that spot tingling for a while afterwards.

They made it to the little island, and Smellerbee stopped them there because she was tired. She was a strong swimmer, but the first time she had exerted herself more than she had in a while. Longshot stayed in the water, his arms on the island.

"What happened to you?" She asked him. It was dark, but she could feel the mixture of rage and fright and hatred, as well as relief and exasperation rolling off of him.

"I went back for Jet's swords and the Dai Li got me. When they collapsed it, one of the nicer guys let me go. I got out and started following you. Ba Sing Se got conquered, by the way." Bee gasped.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no." She said. "What about the Avatar?"

"I don't know yet." They sat in uncomfortable silence. A chilling wind blew, and Smellerbee shivered.

"We better go back" she said, and they did.

%%%%%%%%%%

"Lee, huh?" Bee asked. The boy who mimicked Longshot's silent behavior nodded. The four kids were sitting around the small flame in Smellerbee's nook. Bee and Longshot had disposed of the things they didn't need as much- her breast plate, belt, boots, gloves, bandanna, shoulder plate and a few odd scraps of fabric she had tied around her, and he got rid of his shirt, shawl, boots, and arm guard. His hat was on his head and his bow sat in his lap, the quiver to his side. Bee also had her dagger near, but none of them knew quite where.

"Yep." Said the girl, "And I'm Jin Sue." Longshot had filled her in on how he had found them in the forest, trying to steal his food. She'd smirked. These two, trying to take down Longshot? It was easy to believe that they'd failed.

"So where you going?" Smellerbee asked. The two looked at each other.

"I don't really know, actually. Mom just told us to get out and leave and not get near the fire guys." Jin Sue told them.

"Well, you're with us, so why don't you come to our hide out?" She watched Lee, and she saw that he felt perfectly at home in chaos. She saw something in him that wasn't Longshot. It was Jet all the way; that easiness with anything. She felt a certain sadness well up inside her. She looked away to Longshot. His eyes told her to hold on for a couple more minutes, then they could get away.

"Sure… Why not?" Jin Sue said. Her companion nodded and stood up.

"Well, we're gonna go get some rest." He said quietly. "Good night." Jin Sue followed him and they went out of the nook.

Longshot looked at Smellerbee as she stared into the flickering flames. She untied the sash of her shirt and shrugged it off, putting it over the rack she had made earlier. Her pants followed, and she went for her bed roll, pulling it over to where Longshot sat.

"I miss Jet." Was all she said. He came over and put his arms around her, and she turned and cried in his shoulder. He could feel her fingers grabbing onto him with anger, curling and uncurling as she began to sob. He felt a few tears of his own well over, and he shut his eyes. They held onto one another for what seemed like hours, the fire and tears slowly dying away.

"We should get some sleep." Longshot stood up and went to check his bed roll, but it was still pretty wet. He sighed an almost silent sigh and went to lie on the ground beside Smellerbee.

"Don't be stupid. Come here." She sat on her knees and waited for him to crawl over, then she laid down beside him and pulled her thin blanket over the two. He pulled her over into his arms, and she felt safer. These were her favorite walls.

**Authors note! **That took me too long to get up. Sorry guys. So far, I'm getting pretty good feed back on this one, and I'm glad. It's kicking my butt because I'm doing this and two other projects which will be up soon, and I'm taking summer classes. Yeah, tons of fun. But I'm trying my hardest to do this because I know that once school starts I'm going to have very little time to update so I have to do as much as possible now.

Keep reading, keep reviewing.

Peace!


	3. Chapter 3

**1 Year, Nine Months Ago**

Longshot and Smellerbee decided to travel with the two children. For a month, they wondered through rocky fields covered in sparse flora and fauna, taking longer, less traveled routes to avoid the Fire Nation troops. They heard a lot of mixed information- one week, the avatar was dead, two weeks later, he was alive. It all depended on who you asked, really.

They had entered into a forest with a lot more tree cover. Smellerbee began to feel more comfortable, if only for the time being. According to the map that Jin Sue had insisted on stealing from a barterers stand in one of the many small villages they passed, they were half way through. Smellerbee had sacrificed some of her red face paint to draw lines on the map where the Fire Nation troops were traveling, which made it easier for them to plot around those. Each morning, they would have someone scout ahead to see if there were any blockades or if their path needed to be altered. Smellerbee and Longshot were willing to fight, but only if they had to. The two children had absolutely no fighting ability, as well as no weapons which made them vulnerable.

Smellerbee had finally had enough of their incompetence.

"Jin Sue, Lee, I think you guys need to learn some stuff." Smellerbee told them while they were roasting a couple chick pigeons Longshot had shot earlier.

"what kinda stuff?" Jin Sue asked.

"Well… Longshot and I think it would be beneficial if you guys learned how to fight. It would be good for you if we get split up and it would be good for us if we get ambushed." Longshot watched her speak, his eyes meeting hers. He nodded almost indiscernible amounts throughout, and she caught herself speaking through a small smile.

"Sounds like a good idea. One problem- neither of us have weapons." Smellerbee shook her head.

"You don't have weapons… Yet." She leaned in towards them. "I was thinking that we would go and… Acquire some and then you could take your pick. If we were at base, there's an entire room filled with all sorts of weapons, and each fighter picks the one they want. Usually it takes a few tries to get the right one, but there are some who know exactly what they want and they master it. Longshot even showed up with his bow. He was meant to do it, I'm sure." She smiled at him, and Longshot tipped his head down to hide the color in his cheeks and the full smile on his lips.

"What about you?" Smellerbee blinked and looked up at the one who had spoke- Lee.

"I… I um- ah…" Smellerbee knew she was good, but… Goodness, had she really stuck with one weapon her entire life? Or, rather, one genre of weaponry.

"She's a master with anything that has a blade." Longshot said. He didn't look up, but he could sense the color flood her cheeks and her flustered countenance. He could also sense her trying to keep her cool.

"I wouldn't say a master, really. I just… Like knives and swords and daggers." Her hand wandered to the curved dagger on her belt, and she gripped the hilt, feeling more confident. "I like them a lot."

"Haha okay, Miss Bee." Smellerbee's eye twitched. She wasn't a fan of the nick name Jin Sue had given her. "So how are we gonna get our hands on a buncha weapons?"

"Steal them, of course. We'll pick off a couple soldiers who carry different weapons, steal 'em, and leave the soldiers where they'll be found. Then disappear and steal a couple. After that… It's practice time." She smiled. Jin Sue looked a little uneasy.

"We're gonna… Attack? Isn't that dangerous?" Smellerbee nodded.

"Oh come on, it'll give you a chance to earn your Fighter names." Bee patted her on the back and then turned her attention to the birds, which were now fully cooked. "Longshot, can I have an arrow, please?" He handed her one and she quickly stabbed a bird and removed it from the spit so she could carve it with her dagger. She winced as hot juices dripped down the arrow and onto her ungloved hand, but kept going on. Everyone held out small bowls of carved wood and she stuck strips of meat in each one. The rest would be made into jerky so that they wouldn't have to risk camp fires for a while. They all ate in silence, happy to finally be getting a decent meal.

"So what's next?" Jin Sue asked. Smellerbee unfurled her map with one finger and her foot and looked at the red line and the path they had trekked so far.

"Look's like we're about half way through the forest, and then there's some swamp that we have to go through. We should try to get the weapons before we get there 'cause Longshot says that the troops are avoiding the place like the Omashu plague. We'd have plenty of time to get some practicing done." Longshot nodded, then stood up to go wash his fingers and the bowl off. Smellerbee followed him.

"Longshot, I cant wait to be home." She whispered. He looked at her over his shoulder, and she couldn't see his face in the setting sun. He could see hers though; She looked so tired and sad when she didn't have to put on a façade for the others. She was so strong, but still so soft. So young. Smellerbee sunk to the ground, her back scraping against the bark of a tree. She barely noticed.

"Me neither." Longshot told her, sitting beside her. She leaned on his shoulder, but he just pulled her into his arms. She laid down on his stomach., the sound of his heart and the gentle sigh of his breath entering and exiting his lungs comforting her.

They laid there for who knows how long- Longshot could register tat she was asleep after a few minutes. Time slipped away, and he let it. He had long grown accustomed to living inside his mind and escaping a reality that was often much harsher than most people dealt with. Longshot's dreamscape was a detailed world filled with the things he loved- and the people he loved. In his alternate reality, Jet had never died, and he and Longshot and Smellerbee spent their time doing the things they did as a child. The Duke and Pipsqueak were always there, helping them out, being great friends. He missed his old life so badly.

%%%%%%%%%%

Longshot had fallen asleep where he was. His back ached from the strange position, but when he opened his eyes and saw the brown mop of hair and the small streaks of red on his shirt, he figured it was worth it. He lifted a hand and grabbed at some of the hair and pulled gently, teasingly. Smellerbee tensed up, her hand seizing a bunch of dirt, obviously trying to find her dagger. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He watched her yawn and push herself backwards.

"Good morning, Longshot." She said, groggily rubbing her eyes. She'd slept so well, and she really didn't want to get up. Suddenly she remembered the kids. "Longshot! Jin Sue and Lee!" She stood and pulled Longshot to his feet, smiling briefly at his mussed hair. He looked so different when it wasn't his brand of perfect. Longshot held his hat in his hand and followed Smellerbee into the forest.

The pair still slept beneath a huge shady tree, the campfire only ashes on the ground. Smellerbee smiled.

"Hey now, kiddies, time to wake up." Bee said, kneeling down and shaking Lee's shoulder. The boy rolled over, his eyes squeezed shut, his mouth a thin line. He sat up and crossed his legs, then rubbed his eyes. Blearily, Lee recognized the shapes of Smellerbee and Longshot.

"Jin Sue." He reached over and pushed the girl, and she rolled onto her stomach. It wasn't the nicest greeting, but he knew she wouldn't mind.

"Good Morning guys." Jin Sue said, yawning. "We getting weapons today?" She looked at Longshot, widening her eyes when she saw his hair down.

"Yup. But I think we could eat a little first. Come on, lets hide the ashes and pack up. I saw some papayas and lychee nuts on the way back." Smellerbee turned to look at Longshot, who was still groggily rubbing his eyes. "I like your hair, Longshot." She told him, reaching up to touch a strand. He smiled at her.

%%%%%%%%%%

They trudged along, munching silently on the yellow and red fruits. Smellerbee held the map, her eyes darting from it to the ground.

"Okay guys, it looks like once we're here-" She pointed to a strip of land surrounded by the bogs of the upcoming swamp, " We'll be able to cross into the swamp and walk around the border. The fire losers are walking the trail still, so then we can ambush a couple and grab their swords. We've gotta be discreet, because we are facing an army. We'll leave them somewhere over… here." She jabbed the paper with her sticky pinky, leaving an indent on the wooded out cropping.

"Sounds like a plan. So what are Lee and I gonna do?" Jin Sue asked, flicking the seed of her fruit away.

"You are going to find a place to hide and wait." Smellerbee smiled at the girl, excited. She missed the action of the Freedom Fighters a little bit. The pre psycho Jet action.

"Mmmkay… What if you need help?" Bee looked at Longshot.

"Well, I go in first. Longshot's my back up. We're Freedom Fighters, after all."

"That doesn't make you invincible." Lee told her. Smellerbee was taken aback.

"No. But it's close enough." Longshot replied to the boy. He'd pulled his hair back up and put the hat back in it's place, so nobody except Smellerbee knew he was smiling. Smellerbee could just sense it. She could also sense that he was a little annoyed with this comment. Bee moved closer to him, putting her hand on his arm. She knew how to speak his language.

Time passed, taking with it snippets of idle conversation. Smellerbee and Jin Sue discussed the pros and cons of swords and daggers, the younger girl feeling somewhat intimidated by the older's enthusiasm. Soon, Jin Sue and Smellerbee drifted away to their silent companions, and the group was quiet for a while. Smellerbee and Longshot played strange games; pushing one another, trying to make the other laugh, staring contests. Smellerbee lost the last two, but completely succeeded in pushing Longshot into a bush. The two younger kids had looked at them like they were crazy, but it was worth it. Longshot had actually laughed out loud.

Finally they made it to the narrow piece of land. When Smellerbee saw it, she couldn't really believe that it had been put on the map- it was more the size of a bridge than a passable strip of land.

"Well, we're here." Smellerbee told the kids, and Jin Sue shut up. Lee's ears rang, as they always did when she stopped talking. He loved her voice, but this was the only downside. Bee stepped onto the rail of land, testing it. Maybe it had once been bigger, and had been eroded away, thus becoming unsafe. She knew that she had a better chance than any of the others if this was the truth.

The water below looked filthy and polluted, but the wild life said otherwise. She took a breath and held it, then stepped onto the bridge.

Rocks fell. Lots of them. She felt her heart beat accelerate, but kept going. The ground had not yet fallen out from beneath her. That was good enough for her.

Longshot watched her take the next few steps and already his hand was reaching for the rope in his pack and an arrow. He was being discreet about it, so as not to disturb anyone. He knotted the rope around the shaft several times, and held it tightly in his hand. Smellerbee took a few more steps, and made it to the other side. Longshot smiled and followed her.

Of course, it was him who fell. Always his luck.

**Author's note: **I'm finally getting a grasp on the flow of this story, which is really important. Also, please note- The time changes at the top of every piece. Keep track of that. This story isn't even to the present (the present that the Sokka/ Suki is written in) Because we don't really know what happened to these guys. So I gotta cover some story and intro a few characters, then we pick up on the present set story.

Confusing, I know. I'll make it work, somehow.

Please Review!


	4. Chapter 4

_One Year, Nine Months Ago_

**Smellerbee stood frozen, transfixed. Longshot… had… fell? This never happened. Longshot was always the careful one- she was the one who always messed up. She watched at the water got somewhat more grimy, then started to flow away. **

"**Smellerbee! You gotta do something!" Jin Sue was screaming at her. She just… couldn't move. She watched as a hand reached up through the grime, an arrow in the hand.**

"**Bee!" Jin Sue shouted again. Lee watched calmly, his stare blank and cold. He was calculating, trying to figure something out. Jin Sue didn't even notice him.**

"**Bee!" Jin Sue finally started to run towards the girl herself, but Lee stopped her. **

"**Hold on a second. Look." He pointed away to where an arrow had shot out of the filthy water and embedded itself in a tree trunk. Then he pointed to the chasm between Jin Sue and Smellerbee. "And there's that, too." Jin sue blushed. **

**Smellerbee finally recovered herself. She ran to the place the arrow was and grabbed the rope attached to it and pulled. She pulled with every ounce of her strength, and Longshot's head finally surfaced. He took a deep breath and began to pull as well, and they met in the middle. Bee grabbed his shoulders and pulled him out of the water, his body landing on hers. They lay there for a moment, her arms gripped like a vice around him, her body steadily becoming wetter and dirtier.**

**He clutched her to him, breathing hard. He knew he smelt disgusting, but she didn't seem to care. Longshot was alright.**

"**I'm so sorry…" Smellerbee whispered. He chuckled.**

"**It's all my fault, though." She looked at him, and he saw what she meant. She hadn't saved him.**

"**Don't worry about that… it's all right." Longshot reassured her. He sat up and stood, wincing at the feeling of mud and other, most likely unpleasant substances squelching in the bottom of his boots.**

"**We'll go and get you cleaned up soon, I promise." Smellerbee said, staring up at him. He reached down and pulled her to her feet. She looked down and grinned. " Looks like we'll have to clean me up too." He smiled and reached up to yank his hat off his head to see how damaged it was. It wasn't, but it had a ton of mud trapped inside.**

"**Let's go get those two and get going. I don't really wanna give this stuff the chance to dry." Longshot untied from the rope and they walked back.**

**After creating a zip line of sorts and trudging into the forest, it got dark. Smellerbee collected some wood and built a fire, then she and Longshot left the kids to clean themselves.**

**There was no clean water, which was extremely annoying. Longshot sighed and yanked off his shirt and ran it through the water, doing his best to get the chunks of muck off. He would have done anything for a large bucket of the water from the serpent's pass. He looked up and sighed at the tree trunks.**

"**Hey there, Longshot." He looked around and saw Smellerbee standing there. Her hair was wet and the face paint was washed off, the stains that were always there the only trace of them. "you do know that there's some sort of… less… disgusting pool of water over here, correct?" he shook his head and followed her. The swamp was eerie and quiet, but together, they felt safe.**

**After their clothes were somewhat clean, though soaked, they headed back. Smellerbee opened her pack and pulled out a piece of meat for everyone. They all ate in silence, then Lee asked:**

"**So… How are we gonna do this?" Longshot smiled. Smellerbee looked up at the boy, her face blank.**

"**We attack in the morning. Your not doing anything until you've had some training." She sighed. "Let's just get some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna hurt." She turned away from them all and pulled herself into the tree. She was sick of sleeping on the ground. She was sick of traveling constantly. It seemed like they'd left for Ba Sing Se years ago and had only just left.**

**She was sick of war. She'd reached the canopy and found one of the curved branches and stretched out, feeling fairly safe in the crook of the forest's arm. **

**Her clothes were soaked and cold, so she pulled them off. Sitting there in her skivvies was better than anything else she could have done at that moment. **

**Longshot watched her climb, and sighed. Something was wrong with her. He'd find out later. If he knew Bee like he though he did, he knew she would want a little space.**

**%%%%%%%%%%%**

**Morning came way too early. The kids were weary and sick of traveling, especially by foot. Longshot woke first and climbed into the tree top, still half asleep. He was looking for Smellerbee so that they could go and get the kid's weapons.**

**She was laying down on her stomach, her head resting on her bunched up shirt. He smiled at her, loving the way her hair flopped around on every direction. He walked swung up onto her branch and touched her exposed back, and she rolled over and stared at him, dagger in her hand. She didn't look happy to be woken up.**

"**Good Morning." He said, and she sat up.**

"**Hi." She looked guilty. She picked up her wrinkled shirt and pulled it on. She wasn't afraid of Longshot seeing her nearly naked, since he'd seen it many times before. They'd grown up together. They knew everything about each other.**

**Smellerbee wouldn't meet his eyes, which struck him as strange. She didn't even have to look at him to know what the unasked question was.**

"**Yesterday. I didn't save you." He sighed and pulled her to him. It didn't matter. They were still together, weren't they?**

"**Sure sure. But… I should have been able to do it. Jet told us to take care of each other. I failed, already!" Her hand balled into a fist behind his back. Longshot watched her squeeze her eyes shut, presumably to keep herself from crying. He knew that she **_**hated **_**crying, especially in front of people.**

"**No." He said, letting the solid word speak for itself. She shook her head and pressed her face into his shoulder. He let her.**

"**How do you handle it, Longshot? That you shot Jet?" She asked. He looked away, far off.**

"**It bugs me, sure. But I know that if I hadn't, he would have suffered for a while. And we probably would have been captured. It was in the best interest of all of us. And if we had gotten caught, Jet would have died angry at himself for letting us slip into the hands of the man that killed him." It was the longest speech he'd given in a while. Smellerbee looked at him, her eyes red and puffy. He could feel the twin spots on his shirt that had soaked up her tears.**

"**That… Makes sense." He smiled at her. "Plus, if I had jumped in, we could both be dead." He nodded. Longshot hadn't even realized this possibility, and it scared him. losing Smellerbee would probably be the end of him.**

"**Okay then. Let's go get those two up. She pointed down to the kids laying on the ground, still asleep. Longshot didn't want to move. It could wait a little, right? It was still early…**

"**Oh, fine." She replied, laying back on his chest. "Just a little bit longer." He smiled, content, and stared down at her messy mop of hair. Sun leaked through the dense foliage and made the tips of it turn a lighter shade.**

**She looked so… Pretty. Longshot smiled, hiding that opinion deep in his mind. She'd beat him up if she knew.**

**%%%%%%%%%%**

**They'd finally roused the children and gotten their stuff together so that they could move on. Longshot had made some new arrows to replace the ones the water had swept away, and Smellerbee had fashioned a new sheath. She planned to get herself a good broadsword today, since her dagger wasn't cutting it.**

"**Hey!" Jin Sue exclaimed while handing Longshot his knapsack. "What are those!" She pointed to the steel diamond tipped hilts that stuck out of the bag. Smellerbee looked over, and her jaw dropped.**

"**Those are… Are they really?" She asked. Longshot nodded. She walked over, and he pulled the two hooked swords from the bag. She took the heavy weapons gingerly, as if she was handling Jet's soul itself.**

"**How did you get these?" Jin Sue watched the boy silently explain.**

"**So that's why you were late! You got caught, didn't you?" Longshot smiled slightly. Smellerbee hooked the ends together, testing them.**

"**Forget my broadsword. I'm taking these until we get to the hideout." She set them down and then handed her newly made sheath off to Jin Sue, who looked at it uneasily. Lee saw the look on her face and pulled it from her hands.**

"**Thank you." Jin Sue whispered. Lee nodded.**

"**Not a problem." **

**Longshot looked at Smellerbee, and she nodded. The group began to move, Smellerbee feeling reverent of the weight of the weapons on her back, tied there by long pieces of sinewy bark. She felt Longshot's hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him. The sorrow and regret wasn't clouding her eyes anymore, and that made him happy. She had painted her face and lined her eyes for the first time since Laogai. She was ready to kick some Fire Nation ass, for sure.**

**The group walked toward the red line that Smellerbee had been tracing on the map. Longshot felt the anticipation rising in his chest. Smellerbee was grinning. **

**Jin Sue and Lee felt uneasy. They could sense the excitement building in the other two, and it was a little scary. It was also a little exhilarating, the way the air filled with it. They trudged along in silence, Jin Sue being quiet for once. She feared for their older guides and protectors.**

**Finally, they reached the edge of the swamp. Their boots were covered in mud and Smellerbee and Longshot still were covered in grime, but they looked fierce anyway. Smellerbee walked forward, crouching in the bushes. **

"**Stay hidden." Longshot told them before he scrambled away into the treetops, out of sight.**

**The two kids sat down behind the trees for what seemed like ages. Somewhere, they heard a bird coo, but otherwise it was eerily quiet.**

**A few minutes later, they heard the bird call again, and then the sounds of feet scuffling about, metal scraping against metal, a bow twanging, and a man groaning. They didn't dare move for fear of messing the operation up.**

**The sounds ceased.**

**Smellerbee sat in the bush with the unconscious man, placing the pretty broad sword he had formerly owned far enough from him. She heard him stir, and she brought the butt of her dagger down against his head. He stopped moving, but he continued to breath evenly.**

**Longshot sounded the first bird call, alerting her to the presence of their next victim. She wondered what kind of weapon he had. She sat on her haunches, daggers in hand. Her body was tense as Longshot's bow string. She smiled widely, feeling blood course through her. She felt at one with the world again.**

**The gentle tweeting sounded again, and she peeked out. Two men were conversing, not noticing that they were lagging. One of the men carried a short bow, like Longshot's, and the other carried two spears on his back.**

**The one with the bow was surprised to find that the toe of his shoe had been pinned to the ground by an arrow tipped with red feathers. When the boy with the dark eyes and the strange red marks on his face ran out and yanked his bow from his grasp with one hook, and then smashed him on the head with the butt of his dagger, he was downright shocked. It didn't matter for more than a few seconds, because he went unconscious seconds later.**

**Longshot saw the man with the spears searching the trees, and he smiled as Smellerbee swept a leg out from beneath him. She whapped him on the head yet again, then slipped the spears from the holder on his back. She searched him quickly, then grinned when she found a small dagger concealed in his boot. Within moments, she had all the weapons pulled into the bush with her, then she went to get the spear man and stick him beneath the bush, his legs peeping out. The next battalion was about a mile off, and they would have time to put distance between themselves and their victims. **

**Longshot jumped out of the tree to help her carry the haul. They ran into the forest and found the kids, and they all started to run into the depths of the swamp.**

**After a while, Smellerbee stopped. She was tired, and her muscles were sore, and she felt like they had gotten far enough. The foliage was dense, and the kids would be able to get a couple hours of practice in before they worked on getting out of the swamp by the end of the next day.**

"**Okay guys. So.. This is what we've got." Longshot handed her the broad sword, and she swung it up and held it like Jet had taught her. Both children look frightened by it. Smellerbee smiled and stuck the tip into the dirt beside her. "The broad sword, and we also have a dagger." She whipped it out of her boot and smiled at it; the four and a half inch blade with the thin, golden tipped hilt, wrapped in soft brown leather. It was obviously very close to brand new. "Then, there is the bow and arrow, and the spears." Longshot held up the spears in their case, and then dropped them to hold out the bow. **

"**Can I… Can I see the dagger, please?" Lee asked hesitantly. He stepped forward, and Smellerbee flipped the knife in her hand so that the hilt faced him. Longshot shook his head, a smile on his lips. Smellerbee looked at him, and blushed. Showoff, he was telling her.**

"**Okay. So the dagger is for getting up close and personal. It is easily one of the trustiest and most dangerous weapons you can get your hands on. Aim is important, because you can also throw these suckers." She went on for about five minutes, and soon, she had Lee handling the tiny weapon with a measurable amount of skill.**

**Longshot stood before Jin Sue, a comfortable smile on his face. She looked uneasy. All the tools were laying on the damp ground. Jin Sue sunk down to pick up the broad sword, but it was too heavy. **

"**Spirits! That crazy heavy." She went to the spear, and when she picked it up, she seemed to like it tolerably well. Longshot helped her hold it, but he didn't feel like speaking. He looked over to Smellerbee, who saw him, and she came over.**

"**So for the spears, you can throw 'em or you can stab with 'em. Throwing is a lot harder, so why don't we go over here and work on it. Lee's doing okay. But Longshot if you could keep an eye on him…?" The archer nodded, and scooped up the bow and arrow. The bow wasn't very good, but he could tell that the tips had some sort of poison in the tip- he'd definitely keep those.**

**And so they spent their day, until the kids were sore, and Longshot and Smellerbee felt accomplished.**

**%%%%%%%%%%**

"**Longshot, do you think that the Fighters are still at the hideout?" Smellerbee asked him while the two huddled near the fire. Their Fighters in training were sound asleep, tired form the work they'd put in. He nodded.**

"**I'm always worried that… they'll be mad at us, or that they'll have moved on… Oh! And we left Sneers in charge… he's gonna cling to that. I wonder who should be the leader, if not him?" Longshot looked down at her. She stared into the fire, her eyes worried.**

"**You, of course." He said, and she looked at him. They were staring at one another's eyes, and suddenly… It just happened. They didn't know who moved first, but when their lips touched, both blushed the color of red badger toads.**

**They had a hard time getting to sleep that night, for sure.**

**Author's note! Oh my god they kissed! Took me four chapters… gosh.**

**Ah well. Did you know, this story was supposed to be only five chapters originally? Haha, fat chance of that happening now… hope you enjoyed!**

**Oh, and also… for those of you who have been directed here from my previous story (Since this is a series, even if all the parts of it can stand alone), Love, Festivals and Spirits, you'll be interested to know that I got added to the Sokka and Suki community for it. It's a pretty good day for me.**

**And also, seriously sorry It took so long for me to update. I feel bad but… I go back to school in two days, and I've been in a state of panic over it. Not a good excuse, and I know it… but please forgive me.**

**R&R, please!**


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